Ah yes, the magic power of the antiquarian picture palace, the lure of the obscure film, the gumshoe mysteries of the renegade director. Hector Mann from Paul Auster’s Book of Illusions, immortalised in song by Duke Special this very month. The esoteric conspiracy encoded in the work of the B-movie director Max Castle from Theodore Roszak’s 1991 novel Flicker. The anonymous film clips posted online by the ‘garage Kubrick’ in William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition. The film cartridge in David Foster Wallace’s mammoth novel Infinite Jest, an artifact so potent it reduces the viewer to a state of ecstatic paralysis and eventual expiry.

And now Tara Brady, HP’s resident cinemancer, has seen fit to open her trove of lost treasures and forbidden pleasures to the public under the umbrella title of The Orphanage, located at the Greenhouse, 17 St. Andrew Street, Dublin 2, as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which runs from February 18 – 28.
What’s it all about? According to the curator’s brief, “An ‘orphan film’ is any motion picture that has been abandoned by its owner or caretaker. Usually, the term refers to all manner of films outside of the commercial mainstream: public domain materials, home movies, outtakes, alternate endings, undeveloped reels, unreleased material, industrial and educational movies, CCTV footage, just about anything that’s unloved, unwanted or forgotten.”
The blurb continues: “One man’s tat is another man’s treasure. In that spirit, we bring you The Orphanage, a place where concepts like copyright and ownership have no meaning. Far away from the grown up world’s slavish adherence to shiny new products, this Neverland of freebies, object d’art and orphan films is made from 100% recycled materials; the decor is cobbled together from free trade pieces, dustbin contents and clutter from other people’s attics, the movies have been retrieved from darkest recesses. Come join us on our couch for a marathon of foundling films including the Brazilian remake of Star Wars, a Turkish Wizard Of Oz, the North Korean Godzilla (made to order for Kim Jong-il) and Plan 9 From Outer Space retold through the fine medium of Mexican wrestling. This is an entirely free, interactive and democratic piece. Gawp through the window or take in Badi (the Turkish E.T.) from the comfort of our sofa. Films will screen all day, every day for the duration of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.”
Sounds like mondo heaven. See you on the couch.